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The immediate aftermath of a world-wide nuclear war will most likely result in anarchy, total confusion and disaster in almost every local community no matter how far it is located from the blast and firestorm effects of the nuclear weapons themselves. Most likely there will be no distributed electrical power, extremely limited and not immediately irreplaceable supplies of food and fuel, and very limited means of communication.
In these circumstances there will most often be looting of the few remaining supplies from stores. Medical and other services will be impossible to maintain. For a more graphic illustration of what may be expected you may be interested in reading the author's
The first order of the day will be the
Moving masses of refugees, semi-organized mobs such as motorcycle gangs or groups who are able to mutually identify on some racial or other basis, along with mass escapes from penal institutions, will add to confusion and hazard for personal safety.
The first order of business, of any entities who wish to establish a system of justice and order, will be that of security. There is the possibility that previous police and military units may simply go renegade but if they can be called upon to provide service their identity will be helpful in gaining respect for their enforcement. You will probably be very fortunate if you have any security - even martial law.
This is the full 1993 Field Manual in .pdf format from the
Headquarters of the Department of the Army and the US Marine Corps. Of particular interest may be Chapter 9-5 in regards to operation Garden Plot. In our off-line library we maintain a number of other manuals dealing with lines of authorization and other such matters.
The three choices are to conquer, cooperate, collaborate - or die in the effort. The preferred choice is cooperate. If one or a community is attacked by a vicious renegade gang that has no inclination to cooperate and which offers no benefits in collaboration (such as protection) then the only choice is between conquering or dying in the effort, where otherwise they will be pillaged, raped and murdered anyway.
This is the Table of Contents in HTML format of the 2001 Field Manual from the
Headquarters of the Department of the Army on Military Police Internment and Resettlement Operations. There are links here for downloading the entire manual from the official government site.
The second order of business, after security, will be that of shelter, especially in the winter time. Such public and private buildings that can be commandered will need to be utilized. Food and fuel will then become the nagging problems. Any significant stocks must be immediately commandered and protected. Those who are able to provide for these essentials, perhaps by some collective effort, can then begin to widen their horizons as to providing for the largest collective good.
Martial Law: Internment and Resettlement Operations
Camps: Standards for Building Refugee Camps
Health: Field Hygiene and Sanitation
This is the full .pdf version of the above 2001 Field Manual from the
Headquarters of the Department of the Army on Military Police Internment and Resettlement Operations.
This UN paper is based upon experience and gives considerations that should be taken into account wherever possible. After a nuclear holocaust, a compounding problem for many areas will be a shortage of supplies and no outside source for them.
This is the 2000 Marine Corps Field Manual. Health and hygiene from a community perspective, rather than the individual perspective. Everything from maintaining community kitchens to
showers, toilets, and so forth. Refugee handling centers, camps and facilities along with emergency medical facilities may find some application of principles listed here.
As a sub-issue to public health this is a 40 page booklet from the Ontario Ministry of the Environment which we have placed in a 1599KB .pdf file.
The size of marauding renegade, or not so renegade, forces that may be allied against initially forming cooperative and collective communities - may be very great and may increase overtime. Once again, the best solution is to increase through cooperation the size and perimeters of the collective community. If given the opportunity to submit to the authority of some entity that already has in place or has achieved a superior degree of organization, along with the resources to maintain it, then that is the most reasonable and rapid choice - providing that entity is sufficiently altruistic towards one's essential values.
One of the first potential resources will be that of salvaging and protecting the assets that remain. Initially, this particularly applies to food, fuel, and medicines. However, any controlling entity will do well to as quickly as possible establish protocols for dealing with looters and vandals. Regarding the latter, there will arise a destructive mindset that must be controlled immediately in order to prevent detrimental destruction that can thus be avoided. On the other hand, salvaging needs to be quickly legitimately authorized, organized, coordinated, controlled, collected and cataloged. This will be an excellent use of what would be otherwise unemployed manpower and a redirection of energies that could otherwise be put to detrimental purposes. The old saying - "the devil finds work for idle hands".
Medical: Emergency Medical Facilities
An inventory of resources needs to be compiled. Not just physical objects but what is called human capital so that recovery and reconstruction coordinators can best utilize both materials and skills. The primary concerns will be Individual Agricultural Recovery, communication, fuel, transportation, and manufacture.
Communications may have to be as simple as establishing runners or a localized postal system. On the other hand there may be the capability of charging batteries for battery powered radios and even HAM radio for more distant communication. If a local transmitter can be brought back on the air this would provide one way communication to battery powered car radios, the batteries for which could be charged by a variety of methods. Local phone lines may be undamaged and it again becomes a matter of charging the system. As with any system it may be necessary to restrict or ration usage to those points with the highest social priority.
Alternate fuel sources are described in Individual Agricultural Recovery after Nuclear Holocaust. Some of these may be as primitive as salvaging and distributing wood for heating and cooking. Combustible fuels for internal combustion engines will be a high priority.
Transportation is highly necessary for security, fire defense, salvaging, distribution and getting the labor force where it is needed. A busing system may have high priority in this latter regard.
The reestablishment of manufacture is an important goal. Support and incentive should be given to those trying to do so. Large scale manufacture may come considerably later but what should be done first is to identify the immediate needs and what methods there are of fulfilling them. Two lists, one of priorities, the other of resources and capabilities, can be drawn up. High priority items have a first call upon resources. Lower priority items that can be easily fulfilled without detriment to high priority items can also be readily met. The challenge will be in allocating resources to priorities in the middle range which are not so essential but are not so easily met either.
The very largest scales of manufacture require large functioning reconstructed communities. To support the reconstruction of a refinery, for instance, with its requirements for energy, raw material, transportation of product, expert operators, and so forth would very likely require a functioning surrounding community of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands. Once again a reason for extending the perimeters of the supporting communities. While such reestablishment may be a considerable time coming in many areas, nevertheless all such resources should be protected, as much as possible, for the future. In the meantime, all presently usable resources should be utilized to the maximum. This particularly applies to the human capital.
A traumatized society will probably collectively go through the seven stages of grief. Intense, purposeful and meaningful activity is probably the best therapy available, both individually and collectively. The reestablishment of social institutions for security, justice, health, education, all depend upon the functioning political / economic system. Whoever or whatever controls the economic, production, distribution system will also control the security and other systems. This writer's preference is for that which he describes in conjunction with the LETS system, but most any functioning system will be better than none.
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